It should not be news to anyone that public education in Texas is slacking. We are ranked #36 in the nation in high school graduation rates (68%). We leave hardly any money in our budget that will go toward education. We are ranked #6 in the nation in student growth, and yet we are the only state in the nation to cut average per pupil expenditures in fiscal year 2005. These facts can be found at Window on State Government. Granted these facts are a little dated, but meaning behind them is still true. Texas public education sucks and we need someone to do something about it.
That is why when I saw an article titled Some Texas GOP Candidates to Make Education a Priority I got very excited. I have been amazed at how few candidates running for office seem to address the issue of public education in Texas. Yes, most of them recognize it as a problem, but very few make it a central part of their campaign, and even fewer propose a solution. Now however seems as though some politicians are finally realizing parents actually care about their children’s education.
The problem with Texas education is the lack of funding. I know people do not like to give away their money, the only way we will be able to greatly improve K12 education is to increase funding. We are not going to be able to continue cutting the budget for education and expect the problem to go away.
Although the there are only four people who are running a campaign based around education it is better than nothing. My hope is that other politicians around Texas will see how important this issue is, and that it cannot be ignored any longer. It is time for someone to step up and fix our flawed system.
Kids are important. Schools are important. We all agree with this, and it's beyond dispute that Texas does not have a very good public school system.
ReplyDeleteToday, I will be addressing an editorial written by my colleague, Mr. Martinez, on Texas education. His arguments basically came down to: we have a sad education system, and we need someone who will actually fix it. Wile I agree with his basic premise, I have one main critique of Mr. Martinez's post.
In his second to last paragraph he stated, "The problem with Texas education is the lack of funding ... the only way we will be able to greatly improve K12 education is to increase funding." This seems a reasonable conclusion, but let's see if funding really has a very significant impact on academic performance.
A May, 2011 article published in Fox News entitled "Public School Per-Student Spending Increases as State Funding Decreases", spoke on elementary through high school funding while looking at a U.S. Census Bureau report. Fox specifically compared Utah (which spends very little per student) to New York (which spends a lot), "In Utah, the lowest per-student spending state, 21 percent of schools failed to meet the goals set under that federal education law. In New York, the highest per-student spending state, 38 percent of schools fell short." Utah actually has a very noticeably higher percent of succeeding schools!
Although it's compelling, looking at only two states is not conclusive on whether or not funding significantly improves education. Let's take a broader look at per-student funding across the US. Senior policy annalist Jennifer Cohen, of The New America Foundation, published the following chart in September, 2010 after looking at data from The Federal Education Budget Project. The chart shows each state's annual per-student spending (on the left side), and contrasts it with the high school graduation rates (on the bottom).
[see my blog (txwitness.blogspot.com) for chart]
The article (entitled "Examining the Data: State Per Pupil Expenditures and State Graduation Rates") which contains the chart, concludes, "...the scatter plot [seen above] makes it abundantly clear that states are not guaranteed a certain graduation rate depending on how much they spend per student." Though this analysis is only for high school graduation, it still make the point that money cannot buy everything, especially when it comes to education. Further analyzing the data, Ms. Cohen claims, "Instead, how a state (and school district, and school) spends its money matters significantly more than how much money it actually spends."[emphasis added]
In the end, Mr. Martinez's point may be the answer. To "greatly" increase performance, we might need more funding, depending on how you define "greatly." By looking at the above chart, however, it's plain that there are many states that spend less than Texas per student but have higher graduation rates. Therefore, I conclude that our school system isn't necessarily in need of more funding, but maximizing resource use would make a more long term difference.